Expected retirement age

Updated: 1.4.2014
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Next update: 1.4.2015

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The effective retirement age remained unchanged

In 2013, the average effective retirement age in the earnings-related pension scheme was 60.9 years. Although the effective retirement age remained on the same level as in 2012, it has increased by two years from the level prior to the 2005 pension reform. This exceeds the forecasts. Changes in the effective retirement age are measured by the expected effective retirement age, which is based on pension contingencies in different age cohorts.

The difference between men and women regarding the effective retirement age has disappeared in the last few years. Now men and women retire at the same age. Last year, the expected effective retirement age for men was 60.9 years and for women 60.8 years. Previously, the expected effective retirement age was clearly higher for women than for men.

More than 73,000 individuals retired on an earnings-related pension in 2013, an increase of more than 4,000 persons compared to 2012. This is the second-highest number of new retirees since the record was set in 2009, when nearly 80,000 individuals retired.

Last year, the total number of new retirees rose clearly compared to 2012. As in 2012, an ample 20,000 persons retired on a disability pension, while more than 50,000 persons retired on an old-age pension. This constitutes a nearly 10-per-cent increase from the previous year.

Source:Finnish Centre for Pensions

Description of indicator

The expected effective retirement age depicts the average expected age of actual retirement that is formed for insured persons of a certain age, when presuming that starting pensions for a certain age group and mortality rates remain at the level of the year under review. The expected effective retirement age is calculated both for 25-year-olds and 50-year-olds. The indicator was introduced in 2003.The prediction can be used to review, in particular, changes in the effective retirement age occurring over time. The indicator reacts immediately and in the right direction to changes in retirement risk. Change is followed up primarily through the expected effective retirement age for 25-year-olds, since it describes the entire population covered by earnings-related pension insurance.The expectancy describes the development in the effective retirement age for the whole population insured for the earnings-related benefits, and it is used as the official indicator to describe the changes in the effective retirement age.The expected effective retirement age of 50-year-olds is calculated due to the fact that pension policies have the greatest impact on those who have turned 50 years of age. Since persons who have retired under the age of 50 are not included in the calculation, the expectancy for a 50-year-old is always higher than that of a 25-year-old. The difference depicts the impact that retirees between the ages of 25-49 have on the effective retirement age. Annually, approximately 10 per cent of those who retire are aged less than 50 years.